J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings, Vol. I is a video game from Interplay Productions for the SNES.[1] Originally it was planned for release on the NES[2] and the Game Boy, but these were cancelled.[1]

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The player begins the game as Frodo Baggins, and progressively acquires the remaining members of the Fellowship, with the notable exception of Boromir.[3] With the addition of extra controllers and the SNES Multitap, the game supported up to four players (provided there were currently four characters in the party). Any characters not controlled by the player(s) are controlled by the computer AI.

The game progresses through a series of "fetch quests" in which the player must explore vast environments to retrieve items relating to the game's story.[4] These items are often simple trinkets that have been misplaced by the game's non-player characters (NPCs). Much like the book, the game begins in the Shire, the land of the Hobbits. The game's plot starts at Bilbo's Birthday Party, where you've to find Pippin,[2][3] takes the player to various locations from the book, such as the village of Bree, the elven city of Rivendell, and the Mines of Moria. Unlike the book, however, the finale of the game is the fight between the Fellowship and the Balrog creature in the Mines of Moria (the first book ends significantly later).[3]

Although the game is entitled "The Lord of the Rings, Vol. 1", no sequel was ever released on the Super Nintendo Entertainment System.[1][2][3]

The game was poorly received in a 2004 1up.com review, citing poor AI and hours of "lengthy and boring" fetch quests.[4]

Based on 24 reviews of the game at GameFAQs.com, the game received an average rating of 4.875 out of 10.[3] Many reviewers described the game as "pointless" and "stupid", especially with regards to the game's "fetch quest" structure and poor A.I. which causes characters to "...frequently wander off and die, or [to] get stuck on the scenery [to be] left behind." The game was also criticized for its expansive environments that are extraordinarily difficult to navigate. The game was originally packaged with maps of the major dungeons of the game but, due to most used-game retailers not requiring such materials as part of a trade-in, most people purchasing the game second-hand have no access to such information.